We're talking about private banks issuing their own money, which stopped in the 19th century (around 1860 in the US). The gold standard (bimetallic standard at that time) did _not_ help at all, instead had a negative impact in the long depression, keeping people poor and productive investments at their lowest.
Putting control of currency in the hands of the Federal reserve vs some neutral store of value has been utterly disastrous for the country and everyone but the rich.
